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Participants for pork quality programme sought
Veterinarians and others in Iowa's pork industry have
the opportunity to become Pork Quality Assurance Plusâ„¢ Advisors under the
National Pork Board's PQA Plusâ„¢ programme.
The certification process requires attendance at a daylong training session
and passing an exam at the conclusion of that session. One such training
programme is being offered by the Iowa Pork Industry Center (IPIC) at Iowa State
University (ISU).
James McKean, IPIC associate director and ISU Extension swine veterinarian,
is coordinating the training to be held May 7 at the Quality Inn, 2601 East 13th
St. in Ames.
To be eligible to submit an application, the following qualifications must be
met:
1. Be a veterinarian, extension specialist or agricultural educator (defined
for this programme as a person who spends full time in adult education or at
least half time in production training) AND
2. Have a D.V.M. or B.S. in animal science or an equivalent combination of
education and swine production experience as determined by the PQA Plus trainer
reviewing the application AND
3. Have two years of recent documentable swine production experience.
McKean said those who qualify and are interested in the programme should
download, complete and submit the two-page application form available online.
PQA Plusâ„¢ was developed by the Pork Industry Animal Care Coalition, to be a
continuous improvement programme. The coalition, made up of pork producers,
packers/processors, restaurants and food retailers, dedicated itself to finding
a food-industry solution that would give confidence to consumers that US pork is
produced in a way that respects animal well-being. PQA Plusâ„¢ merges the food
safety and animal well-being concepts of the original PQA programme into three
steps: individual certification through education, farm site assessment, and the
opportunity for audit that gives customer credibility.
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